Beijing
GANSU QINGHAI Themchen
A
Chabcha Tsapon Chentsa
TIBET M
K
TIBET AUTONOMOUS REGION
• Self-immolations • Further protests
S
A
N
G
Tridu
Damshung Lhasa
Ü
Sog
Driru
Bankar
H
Chamdo
A
Kangsta
D
Chigdril Machu Dzoge Pema Ngaba Dzamthang Serthar Kardze Barkham Dranggo Tawu
Darlag
Jyekundo
Nagchu
T
Dzatoe
Rebkong Gepa Sumdo Tsekhok Sogpo
Sangchu Tsoe Amchok Bora Luchu
O
M SICHUAN
YUNNAN
Flames in Tibet: Five Years of Resistance and Repression On 27 February 2009 Tapey, a young Tibetan monk, walked out into the street in Ngaba carrying a homedrawn Tibetan flag and a photograph of the Dalai Lama. He doused himself in petrol and set himself on fire, shouting slogans as he burned. People’s Armed Police (PAP) personnel opened fire and shot Tapey, extinguished the flames and took him away. Tapey is known to have survived but his current whereabouts and well being remain unknown. With Tibet still reeling from China’s crushing of plateau-wide mass demonstrations in 2008, this form of resistance appeared to be an isolated incident, until March 2011 when a second young monk from Ngaba, Phuntsok, set fire to himself and died. Five years after Tapey’s protest at least 127 Tibetans, young and old, men and women, have lit their bodies on fire across Tibet, calling for freedom and of their wish to bring the Dalai Lama home. The vast majority have lost their lives.1 Despite an increasingly aggressive official response, Tibetans continue to demonstrate their resistance to China’s rule in large numbers. In February 2014 over one thousand Tibetans gathered together to protest the detention of the highly respected Tibetan lama, Khenpo Kartse, displaying an unwavering determination and commitment to nonviolent resistance.2 China’s extreme, relentless and repressive policies, and the severe and worsening security crackdown, have created a critical situation in Tibet. 1. See www.StandUpForTibet.org 2. Radio Free Asia, ‘Thousands of Tibetans Pressure Monastery to Push for Monk’s Release’